Monday, July 30, 2012

Hello to my Calcutta 100 Club friends. We have two projects that I'd like to fund with your help.

1) Every year we use funds from Mustard Seeds to cover the cost of rice for one year at Basha school. That time has rolled around again. With the rising cost of living, this time we need to raise about Rs. 8,000 ($144) to help Basha serve a nutritious meal to its students for the year ahead. We have been helping to support Basha in various ways since it began six years ago. On my recent visit to the school, I was happy to hear that the curriculum now also includes sports and dance! All the children are doing so well and some of the mothers now come twice a week to make products for sale. Basha is growing beautifully!

Saswati, who runs Basha, serves up the rice!

2) The patua painter, Karuna Chitrakar, will need to go in for surgery as the doctor has found a tumor in her stomach. She is a diabetes patient so they have been waiting to stablize her blood sugar but it seems like they will need to go through with the operation soon. In the meantime, Karuna needs to purchase medicines and has requested help with about Rs. 15,000 ($270) for the surgery and meds.

Karuna Chitrakar

If you can make a small contribution to either of these funds, please email me at mseeds.maura@gmail.com. The idea behind our Calcutta 100 Club is that if several people (say, around 100 people!) make a small donation of $10 or so toward a specific goal, we can easily help someone in need. I usually request support when specific funds are needed. Let me know if you have any questions. Any amount above what is needed will be saved for a future project when it arises or used to purchase handicrafts from our vocational skills groups to support the producers and sell at Mustard Seed sales.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Sophie Rust and her mother visited us in November last year. One of the places they visited was SUCHANA, a rural learning centre for tribal children outside of Santiniketan. Last week, when Sophie had her birthday party, she decided to collect donations for the school from her friends. She collected $200 and her parents matched the amount bringing the total to $400! Way to go, Sophie! Her mom reports that everyone was happy to give a little to make this a success. Thanks for sharing your birthday fun with other children who are in need. Your efforts are truly commendable!

Be sure to have a look at the website and see the good work SUCHANA is doing to support education possibilities for the children in their village!